PH Malditas bow to South Korea, end World Cup hopes

PH women’s football team. Photo from AFC

The World Cup dream is over for the Philippine Malditas.

South Korea sent the Philippine women’s football team packing with a 5-0 walloping in the fifth-place playoff in
the 2018 AFC Women’s Asian Cup Tuesday morning in Amman, Jordan.

Keeping things tight in the first half, the Filipinos found themselves playing catch-up after Jang Sel-Gi scored in the 34th minute, before Lee Mi-Na doubled the lead just before halftime.

The Koreans continued to impose their will after the break with Lim Seon-Joo making it 3-0  with another goal in the 56th minute.

Cho So-hyun put on the finishing touches in the dominant win with a brace after putting the ball to the back of the net in the 66th minute and with a penalty kick in the 84th minute.

The Malditas finished third in Group A with a 1-0-2 slate and now shift their focus to their preparations for the 2022 AFC Women’s Asian Cup and the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Korea, meanwhile, joins semifinalists Australia, Thailand, China, and Japan to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in France.